Reasoning a Republican Majority

7072006

“Love, friendship and respect do not unite people as much as a common hatred for something.” – Anton Chekhov

Perhaps the reason why the Republican party has such a strong grip on our country is because they understand the power of memetics. They prey on the public – knowing that if we’re scared enough, or angry enough, we’ll let them do anything. By taping into our most primal instinct – fear – they muster a form of social evolution that enables actions to be taken that would not happen without the underlying mass hysteria of fear. This is the so called ‘culture of fear’ that the current administration has worked so hard to beat into us.

Thus the problem for anyone trying to challenge the administration. The seed of fear has already been planted.

So how do we go back in time and stop it before it happens. How can we say to people that what they’ve been fearing for years is not something that should be feared? It’s a slow process. The waining support for the war is an indication however that it is happening.

I hope that Americans are tired of being afraid. I hope that sooner, rather than later, we will see that fear is not an excuse for murder or torture.

The last time a culture of fear engulfed an entire country was perhaps in the 1930’s and 40’s. Adolf Hitler used the exact same tactic to rally his countrymen to commit acts of appalling cruelty. And as with modern American fear – it was unjustified. Fear is not an excuse. Fear is not a justification.

One response

True that. I didn’t say that fear wasn’t good at motivating. I would argue though that ignorance is a much more dangerous and destructive thing than our 7 would be terrorists in Florida. http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/06/22/miami.raids/

Fear is a blessing of an emotion . . . it keeps us alive – provided we know what we should and shouldn’t be afraid of. My concern is that the conservatives in this country know that if we’re afraid of everything that we’ll do anything to protect ourselves, including giving them ultimate power.